Lake Manyara National Park

Leopard at Lake Manyara National Park

Lake Manyara National Park is a national park in Arusha Region in northern Tanzania. The entrance gate lies 126km/80 miles or 2.5 hours west of Arusha along a newly surfaced road, close to the ethnically diverse market town of Mto wa Mbu and there is also an airport, Lake Manyara Airport (LKY), located at the top of the rift wall. The majority of the land area of the park is a narrow strip running between the Gregory Rift wall to the west and Lake Manyara, an alkaline or soda-lake, to the east. The park consists of 330 sq km (127 sq miles) of arid land, forest, and a soda-lake which covers as much as 200 sq km (77 sq miles) of land during the wet season but is nearly nonexistent during the dry season. Best time to visit Dry season (July-October) for large mammals; wet season (November-June) for bird watching, the waterfalls and canoeing.

The Park Attractions

Lake Manyara National Park is known for the flamingos that inhabit the lake. During the wet season they inhabit the edges of the lake in flocks of thousands but they are not so present during the dry season. More than 400 species of birds inhabit the park and many remain throughout the year. Because of this Lake Manyara National Park is a good spot for bird watching. Visitors to the park can expect to see upwards of 100 different species of bird on any day. Leopards, lions, elephants, blue monkeys, dik-dik, gazelle, hippo, giraffe, impala, and more inhabit the park and many can be seen throughout the year. There is a hippo pond at one end of the park where visitors can get out of their cars and observe from a safe distance. The leopards and lions are both known to lounge in the trees while not hunting for prey; Game drives, canoeing when the water levels is sufficiently high. Cultural tours, mountain bike tours, abseiling and forest walks on the escarpment outside the park.